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How to make an emergency information sheet for an aging parent

Updated 1 November 2026 · 3 min read

In an emergency, the people helping need facts quickly and often cannot ask your parent. An emergency information sheet puts the essentials on one page. It is one of the most useful things a family can prepare, and it takes under an hour. This guide is general information. Always call your local emergency number first in an emergency.

What to include

About your parent

• Full name, date of birth and preferred name
• Home address and phone number
• Primary language, and any hearing, vision or communication needs
• A recent photo

Medical information (only what has been confirmed)

• Conditions and diagnoses
• Allergies, including medicines, food and materials
• Current medications and doses, or a note of where the list is
• Past surgeries and implants, such as a pacemaker
• Mobility aids and any equipment, such as oxygen
• Vaccinations, if you have them
• Any information about memory or confusion that would help someone assist

Contacts

• Emergency contacts in order, with phone numbers and their relationship
• GP or family doctor, key specialists and the pharmacy
• Any carer or service provider who visits
• Neighbours who have a key

Wishes and legal

• Whether an advance care directive, healthcare proxy or similar exists, and where it is
• Who holds power of attorney
• Any preferences about treatment that your parent has recorded

Insurance

• Health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or other benefit details

Be careful about accuracy

If a detail is unknown, leave it blank or write “not recorded” rather than guessing. A wrong allergy or dose is worse than a gap. Ask your parent's doctor or pharmacist to check the medical details, and date the sheet.

Where to keep it

• On paper in a clear place at home, for example near the front door or on the fridge, and one in your parent's wallet or handbag
• On your phone so you can show or send it from anywhere
• Shared with the family so everyone has the same current version
• With your parent when they go to hospital or respite care

Some people also use the medical ID feature on a phone, which can be viewed from the lock screen in an emergency. Check how it works on your parent's device.

Put it on the phone too

Phones can show emergency information without being unlocked. Apple says Medical ID, set up in the Health app, can be shown from the Lock screen and can be shared automatically when you call or text emergency services from an iPhone or Apple Watch, if you turn those options on. Apple notes that this sharing is not available in every country or region. Google's Android Help describes the Safety app, where you can save blood type, allergies, medications and emergency contacts, and says anyone who picks up the phone can see the lock-screen information unless you turn that off. Check how it works on your own device.

In Australia, My Aged Care suggests making an emergency care plan with your carer so that all the person's information is in one place and someone else can take over if the carer cannot, and says to call 000 in a life-threatening emergency.

The National Institute on Aging suggests keeping important papers in one place and telling someone you trust, or a lawyer, where to find them.

Keep it current

Review the sheet every six months and after any change in health, medication or contacts. Put a reminder on the shared calendar, and replace old paper copies so nobody relies on out-of-date information.

Checklist

• Personal details and a recent photo
• Conditions, allergies and medication list, checked by a clinician
• Ordered emergency contacts
• Doctor and pharmacy details
• Location of legal documents
• Insurance details
• Copies at home, on a phone and with the family
• A date for the next review

See also our care documents checklist for the wider paperwork, or build the sheet now with our free emergency information sheet builder.

Sources

1. Set up your Medical ID in the Health app on your iPhone · Apple Support, published 10 March 2026
2. Get help during an emergency with your Android phone · Google, Android Help, no date shown
3. Getting Your Affairs in Order Checklist: Documents to Prepare for the Future · National Institute on Aging, NIH, content reviewed 1 February 2023
4. What to do if you need help urgently · My Aged Care, Australian Government, no date shown

Facts about health, law and services in this guide are paraphrased from these pages, read on 1 November 2026. Where a source describes one country's rules, check your own country's official service.

This guide is general information. It is not medical, legal or financial advice. Rules and services differ by country and state, so check with a qualified professional about your situation.

Related guides

• A care documents checklist for family caregiversA checklist of documents family caregivers commonly need for an aging parent, from ID and insurance to legal papers, and how to store them so you can find them.
• How to prepare for a doctor's appointment with an aging parentA checklist for family caregivers going to a doctor's appointment with an aging parent: what to bring, questions to ask, and how to share what you learn.
• How to keep track of an aging parent's medications as a familyPractical ways for families to keep track of an elderly parent's medications: one up-to-date list, a clear schedule, dose confirmation and who to ask.